Ramen X: Authentic Japanese Ramen

I don't exactly know when and how it started, that my family and I are trying and exploring new restaurants and foods. But I enjoy it very much because I love food, I love going out with my family and I love exploring and discovering new things.

There are actually a lot of new restaurants nowadays. Most of the malls around our area are being or has already been renovated and have more restaurants to offer.

On a very fine Sunday. We decided to go to Alabang Town Center. Our original plan was to attend the 11AM mass then go to The Spa. We arrived at around 11:30-ish, so we are CLEARLY LATE for the 11AM MASS. So we just decided to attend mass later in the afternoon or the last mass at 7PM. So we headed to The Spa, unfortunately they were still closed because they open at around 1:00PM. So we just decided to eat lunch at the foodcourt (nothing special about the food so I did not bother to blog about it nor take a picture of the food). My mom and I got our massage not from The Spa, because there were no slot available, but from Lycka... something (haha). I forgot the name! Hahaha! But anyway, I will definitely blog about that next time because we liked the massage and we are definitely going back there.

To cut the story short, the main purpose of this blog is about OUR NEW DISCOVERY - Ramen X. This is a new restaurant in Alabang Town Center, in their new wing. We stumbled upon this because we were waiting in line for J.Co donuts but need to go back there after an hour or so because they ran out of donuts. So my mom and I strolled and we did not expect to see a restaurant along the clothes area/ section in that wing. Since my mom and I are craving for a GOOD ramen, Ramen X got our attention. It says that they have authentic Japanese Ramen. With that, we thought that this would just be another OVERPRICED ramen. The restaurant does not have a menu displayed outside so thanks to my ever trusted vision, I managed to peek and see the menu way back in their counter. I was surprised that their ramen were ALL BELOW 200php! So we decided to have our early dinner here.

I was not able to take a picture of the restaurant's exterior so I just took a picture of the number thing that they give you upon ordering (hehe).

This is their counter where you order and pay for your food. The screen at the back is their menu.

Here's a picture of the restaurant's interior. Nothing really fancy. It's simple and neat. Quite typical of the Japanese's minimalist... uh... something... design. :)

Oh, I forgot to mention that upon entering the restaurant. All the staff (well, the cashier and the waiter/s) will greet you in Japanese. I forgot the exact greeting, anyway I would just spell it incorrectly! Haha. My mom told me that it's somewhat the same to the greeting when you enter Yakimix, but I am still not able to afford and eat there, so... whatever! Hahaha! So we went ahead and ordered at the counter.

Here are what we ordered:

Gyoza. I think this was 59php

There was nothing very special about the gyoza. But I noticed that it tasted somehow different from all the other gyozas that I ahve eaten. This tastes herb-ish (if you know what I mean). I think this is because it has more herbs or leaves that the other gyozas that were stuffed with mostly meat. But I kinda like it this way. Hehe.

One tip when eating their gyoza. Do not dip or cover your gyoza too much with the sauce because it will taste soooo salty. Just dip it a little and it will be perfect - YUMMY! :)

Here's my order. the Oishi Ramen. 149php as I remember.

This is YUMMY for me. It has roasted pork slices. According to the menu, it is soy and miso based something. I cant't exactly remember but soy and miso was definitely in the description. haha.

Tip when eating this Oishi Ramen: You see that reddish black thing at the middle? That thing that looks like bagoong? If you do not want a spicy ramen, go ahead and take that out. But if you like your ramen spicy, well go ahead and mix that with the soup.

I do not want very spicy dishes. But I accidentally mixed that with my ramen. I only realized that it was something to make it spicy when I have already mixed it with the soup. Because I noticed that the soup turned somewhat orange-y in color. But it was okay. It was not that spicy - not Korean spicy (because in my opinion they have very spicy foods - well some). The spicy-ness of it was tolerable that I was still able to enjoy it.

This is their Beef Ramen (Gyu-something.. hehe) 189php

This beef ramen was delicious! The soup was delicious! This is included in ther non-spicy menus. The beef was tender. PERFECT! YUMMY! Oh, this is what my mom and brother ordered.

Fried Rice. 59php

I tell you, this fried rice IS THE BOMB! It is SOOOO DELICIOUS that we had to order another bowl of it! So affordable. Soooo YUMMY! My mom, my brother and I loved this. You can literally eat this by itself! I will definitely order this again! :)

All of their ramen are good for 1-2 persons (depending on your appetite). Reasonably priced at 149 and 189 each. Ramen X also has rice bowls or rice topings such as katsudon, etc. which are all priced at 99php. I will definitely go back and try their other dishes and beverages!

Hua Mulan Combs

Like most women, I also suffer from hairfall. I usually get it after combing my hair, during shower and even upon waking up in the morning. Whenever I see my falling hair, I get depressed (not really depressed but I do feel sad). I have really fine and thin hair to begin with and whenever I experience hair fall, I feel that I could  lose all my hair! I know its funny but I don't want my already thin hair to get even thinner! I have tried numerous shampoos which promises to reduce hair fall, but none of those worked for me. My hair just became drier and brittle. 

I also have very dry scalp and I occasionally experience dandruff  especially whenever I feel stressed and if I spend a long time outside or under the sun. This is another dilemma for me because I don't know what else to do! I have already exhausted almost all ways to treat and prevent it. But, it still recurs after some time. 

I really wanted to find a product that could address all of these problems. So when I saw Hua Mulan combs in malls, I got curious. The first branch/ stall I saw was the one in Robinsons Manila. I did not dare looking closer at the store and the items because I thought it was fancy and expensive and I could not afford their combs. It was my first time to see wooden combs. I thought that I wanted to have one and I would buy even just one comb when I have more money (hehe). When I visited the newly renovated SM Southmall, I saw a new Hua Mulan stall! This was the time that my mom and I checked out some of their combs. Upon approaching the stall, I saw different combs and I knew that I NEEDED to have one (haha!). But to my dismay, I saw that it was priced around 400Php and above. So I said to myself that maybe this Christmas 2012 I could buy one. I did not have any idea that time that they have combs that are very affordable, for as low as 100Php!

I recently discovered that Hua Mulan have affordable yet have excellent quality of combs. I just discovered it when I browsed the internet and read other blogs about it. My boyfriend intially asked me if I wanted him to buy me the third book of the Fifty Shades Trilogy, but I thought that I wanted something else. And then these combs came to my mind! I immediately searched the internet to read some info and reviews and then I found out about the other combs that they sell for very affordable prices.

When my boyfriend and I arrived at the stall, this red comb immediately caught my attention. If I remember it correctly, I think this is 350Php only. I forgot what wood it was made of. I should have gotten this one since he gave me a budget of 400Php (haha!). But he told me that we should get one for my mom too. So I just went ahead and looked for other combs.

The Red comb that I originally wanted to buy. Oh, I will surely buy you the next time! :)

I have also had in mind the hand painted yellow willow wood combs in mind. So I asked the saleslady if they happen to have it. She showed me a couple of hand painted combs and I also liked them! They look so girly and pretty!

One of the Hand Painted Yellow Willow wood combs. This one is 350Php (as far as I remembered)

Another beautiful hand painted comb made from Yellow Willow wood. Priced at 350Php (not really sure though).

Since most of the combs I saw was way out of my budget, I asked the sales lady where their cheapest combs are. She showed me some of the Sandalwood combs. Some of it were I think 90-100Php. And there were 2 that were on sale for 170Php. That 170Php comb has hand painted details so I said that I wanted it since I originally wanted a hand painted comb. I was actually debating between another Sandalwood comb which was priced at 200Php (not on sale or no discount). But then I thought it was too plain yet I wanted the style. So my boyfriend told me to get the two. One for me and one for my mom. So I just bought the 2 Sandalwood Combs.

These are the combs I bought.
(Left) 170Php, (right) 200Php
Both are made from Sandalwood.

What I love most about Hua Mulan combs is that it really feels good when you comb your hair. I have experiences with new combs that the teeth initially feel sharp to the point that it sometimes hurt my scalp. That is why I rarely use new combs (haha!). But these combs are sooo good that I wanted to comb my hair all the time! And another great thing about it is that it has a lot of health benefits. Here are some of its benefits:

combs made of 100% natural materials like wood, ox or goat horns prevent:1. Falling Hair2. White Hair3. Split Ends4. Dandruff5. Headlice 

Therapeutic massage combs that relieve:
1. Migraine / Headache
2. Stress

Here are some more info about the natural materials that they use in making their combs (taken from Hua Mulan's Facebook page):


Goat or Ox Horn Comb - 

According to Chinese Traditional Medicine, the horn of goats is used to treat blood disorders. This type of comb helps reduce hair breakage, hair fall and reduces the sprouting of gray or white hair. Not only that, horn combs can help in alleviating neurasthenia (fatigue, anxiety, listlessness), fever and rheumatism, lower blood pressure and detoxify.A collection of Chinese Traditional Medicines records that flock and herds horn is a cool blood medicament and can cure chills, fever, headache, etc.Yuanfang Chao, a medical scientist in the Sui Dynasty, pointed out that combing helps to make blood passing unimpeded and restrains hair from turning gray. Yan Shou Jing also says that the more you comb the more you feel your eyes bright and relieve from rheumatism.Dongpo Su, a great writer in the Song Dynasty says that before lying in bed with your hair undone, combing frequently would assure you of a sound sleep till daybreak.

Therapeutic Massage Comb (Teeth Inserted Comb) -

It reduces stress, relieves headache or migraine. The bristles of such combs are from a different kind of wood from its handle and body. It can stimulate the scalp to promote proper blood circulation making you hair healthier than ever. Not only that, but its bristles are carefully structured to make one fell relaxed where such comb is used often and can make one have a good night sleep or make your mind active. 

Sandalwood Combs -

This kind of wood is very precious. It needs a hundred years to grow up. This wood grows very slowly and is commonly found on mountain cliffs in the virgin forest of China which can't be easily accessed by people. It does't break easily because of its very solid structure, making such material heavy and expensive. The wood, with magnificent veins and attractive color, gives out fragrant smell.

One unique characteristic of the tree is that it changes its color green when exposed to sunlight. 

Yellow Willow Combs -

This kind of wood is known as a Thousand-Year-Willow, with solid quality and fine structure, is suitable for carving and has become the ideal material to make combs. 

Another great thing about their combs is that all of it has a LIFETIME WARRANTY! Yes - LIFETIME! :) Imagine a comb with warranty?! That just means that you get not just GOOD QUALITY combs but also VALUE for your money! EVERY PURCHASE IS WORTH IT! :) They can replace or fix your comb for free! This will make you L-O-V-E Hua Mulan Combs more! :)